Council for National Policy

The Council for National Policy is a secretive forum that was formed in 1981 by Tim LaHaye as a networking tool for leading US conservative political leaders, financiers and religious right activist leaders. The group, which meets three times a year, promotes "Educational conferences for national leaders in the fields of business, government, religion and academia to explore national policy alternatives. Weekly newsletters are distributed to all members to keep them apprised of member activities and public policy issues. A semi-annual journal is produced from membership meeting speeches."

In 2001, ABC News reported: "The CNP describes itself as a counterweight against liberal domination of the American agenda."

Others are not so kind to the organization and its motives. Mark Crispin Miller states that the CNP is a "highly secretive... theocratic organization -- what they want is basically religious rule" (A Patriot Act). Barry W. Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told the New York Times about the CNP meeting ahead of the 2004 Republican National Convention, "The real crux of this is that these are the genuine leaders of the Republican Party, but they certainly aren't going to be visible on television next week."

Their Executive Director from 1981 until 1985 was Woody Jenkins.

2006 Meeting
An example of the group’s far-reaching influence on the conservative movement in the United States is their May 9, 2006, meeting where speakers included NRA President Sandra Froman, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, Heritage Foundation president Edwin Fuelner Jr., Phyllis Schlafly, Grover Norquist, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, Oliver North and Robert Bork.

Membership
"The media should not know when or where we meet or who takes part in our programs, before of after a meeting," the New York Times reported in August 2004.

Board of directors
The 2002 calendar year Form 990 return filed with the IRS lists the board of Directors as:


 * Donald Paul Hodel President (former Secretary of Energy and former president of the Christian Coalition)
 * T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr., Vice President
 * James C. Miller, III, Chairman
 * John Seribante, Secretary/Treasurer
 * Robert Fischer, Director,
 * Dr. Dal Shealy, Director
 * Howard Phillips, Director
 * Ken Raasch, Director
 * Mary Reilly Hunt, Director
 * Stuart W. Epperson, Director
 * Ann Drexel, Director (also a Red Cross board member)
 * Becky Norton Dunlop, Director
 * Jerome Ledzinski, Director
 * Grover Norquist, Director
 * E. Peb Jackson, Director

Staff members of the Board of Directors are:
 * Steve Baldwin, Executive Director (paid $157,391 in 2002)
 * David Fenner, Director of MIS &amp; Programs (paid $89,088 in 2002)
 * Jennifer Rutledge, Director of Finance &amp; Administration (paid $57,504 in 2002)

Other Members

 * Several groups have listings of CNP members on websites. However, the primary source documents for these lists are not included. Some listsings are at:
 * Council for National Policy membership roster, last updated July 2001:
 * Member Directory.
 * CNP Members Database.

A copy of the membership roster obtained by Institute for First Amendment Studies, listed current and former members as including:


 * Attorney General John Ashcroft (former member)
 * Tommy Thompson, Health and Human Services Secretary (former member)
 * Holland Coors and Jeffrey Coors of the Coors brewing company
 * Richard DeVos, founder of Amway and Orlando Magic owner
 * John Ankerberg, who believes that biblical prophecies were literal promises and are coming true;
 * Dave Breese hosts The King Is Coming, a show devoted entirely to Christian eschatology
 * Chuck Missler, an Idaho radio host who has predicted an imminent invasion of Jerusalem by forces guided by the Antichrist
 * Pat Robertson, former presidential candidate and Christian Coalition founder
 * Steve Stockman, former Texas Republican Representative
 * Rev. Don Wildmon of the American Family Association
 * Rev. Rousas J. Rushdoony, founder of Chalcedon Foundation (deceased)
 * Williams, the founder of BAMPAC, a political action committee that promotes black conservatism
 * Sam Moore, president of Thomas Nelson, the country's most successful Christian book publishing company
 * Henry Morris, prominent creationist
 * Dora Kingsley, political scientist
 * John W. Whitehead founder of the Rutherford Institute
 * Bob Jones III, President, Bob Jones University
 * Phyllis Schlafly
 * Oliver North

Other members who list their membership in their biographical profiles include:
 * John Taylor, the chairman and president of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy
 * Brent Bozell
 * Charles W. Jarvis, chairman and chief executive of USANext and United Seniors Association

Mark Crispin Miller adds the following members:
 * Gov. Sarah Palin
 * Tom DeLay
 * Trent Lott
 * Lauch Faircloth
 * Ed Meese
 * Howard Ahmanson
 * Jerry Falwell
 * Tim LaHaye, author of the Left Behind Series,
 * James Robison
 * Lou Sheldon, traditional values coalition
 * Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Addressed the CNP:
 * John Ashcroft
 * George W. Bush, 2000

Funding
CNP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For the year ending December 31, 2002, CNP income was $1,240,377.

According to Media Transparency, between 1995 and 2002 the CNP received $125,000 (unadjusted for inflation) from the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation and the Castle Rock Foundation. In 2000 the Castle Rock Foundation paid a membership fee of $10,000.

The CNP also has a related 501(c)(4) organisation CNP Action Inc.. CNP Action re-imbursed CNP $16,563 for the use of its facilities with and $39,457 of staff time.

Joseph Coors gave start-up funding, according to Washington Babylon (p. 11).

Books mentioning CNP

 * Russ Bellant, The Coors Connection, How Coors Family Philanthropy Undermines Democratic Pluralism, South End Press, 2nd edition October 1991. ISBN 0896084167 ISBN 13 978-0896084162

Contact details
10329-A Democracy Lane Fairfax, Virginia 22030 Phone: 703 890 0113 Journal website: http://www.policycounsel.org/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Salem Communications Corporation
 * Western Goals Foundation

External articles

 * Article by Barbara Aho.
 * The Council for National Policy: What It Is.
 * COUNCIL OF NATIONAL POLICY. One world "Christian" organization--Very new information.
 * Council for National Policy Unofficial Information Page, Public Eye
 * David D. Kirkpatrick, "Club of the Most Powerful Gathers in Strictest Privacy", New York Times, August 28, 2004
 * Suzi Parker, "The Real Convention?", U.S. News and World Report, August 25, 2004
 * Jeremy Leaming and Rob Boston, "Behind Closed Doors: Who Is The Council For National Policy And What Are They Up To? And Why Don’t They Want You To Know?" Americans United for Separation of Church and State, October 2004.
 * Sarah Posner, "Just who is the Council for National Policy, and why aren't they paying taxes?" The Gadflyer, February 21, 2005.
 * Sarah Posner, "Secret Society," The Gadflyer, March 1, 2005.
 * Steven D, "Sith Lords of the Ultra-Right,", The Daily Kos, June 1, 2005.
 * Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, "Why did J. Kenneth Blackwell seek, then hide, his association with super-rich extremists and e-voting magnates?" Freepress.org, March 10, 2006.
 * David D. Kirkpatrick, "Christian Right Labors to Find ’08 Candidate", New York Times, February 24, 2007
 * Bill Berkowitz, "Right's New Strategy Emulates the 'Enemy'", Inter Press News Service, February 28, 2007
 * "Cheney's Magical Mystery Tour," Desert Beacon Blogspot, October 1, 2007.
 * Max Blumenthal, "Ultra-Secretive Right-Wing Group Met In Minn. To Vet Palin", The Nation, September 1, 2008.